It was gathered that the militants stormed the community around 11.00 p.m. on Friday.
Sunday Tribune saw some of the corpses, which families were preparing for burial, in accordance with Islamic rites, when it visited.
A technician, Waheed Buhari, aka Yah Alau, was said to have been shot dead in front of his room.
A travel agent, Mr Oladele Ogundare, was said to be returning home in his car when the militants opened fire on his car and killed him.
Another resident, Umaru, who was said to be eating noodles, was chased, hacked and shot dead, along with a friend, Danladi.
A mosque in the community was reportedly attacked and a Muslim cleric killed.
Two hotels were said to have also been raided and their customers robbed and injured.
Many of the residents, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, said they had threatened to return to continue the killing.
A resident said the militants were suspected to be from the oil-rich area steep in pipeline vandalism.
She said, “The whole thing began around 4.00 p.m. on Friday. I was at the backyard of Catcher Hotel, weeding the grass when some SARS officers came in. They were shooting and ordering people to stop moving. There was confusion in the hotel.
“The SARS officials did not leave until after three hours. They killed two of the vandals and took away the owner of the hotel, a woman.
“Around 10.00 p.m., I went to urinate when I saw so many hoodlums coming from the waterside down the road. They carried sophisticated weapons and when they got to the place, they started shooting. They blew off the hotel windows and shot people dead. They killed two men in Lapete village.”
Three of Imushin community residents in Ogijo area of Ogun State killed on Friday by suspected militants.
A friend of Waheed, the electrician killed in Oke Muti, said the Ilorin, Kwara State indigene had tried to shut his door when the militants killed him.
Waheed’s corpse was still lying in a room and being prepared for burial when Tribune visited.
His friend said, “He was going to urinate when the militants started firing. He tried to quickly shut his door, but it would jam. They opened fire on him at the doorstep and did not stop until he dropped dead.
“Not satisfied, they entered his room and sprayed everywhere with bullets. Waheed’s child, Mariam, that was in the room, was hit. She is still at the hospital.”
The widow of the travel agent killed in the Ereko area of the community said her husband, Oladele, who worked on the Victoria Island, Lagos State, had left for work in his car Friday morning without any foreboding.
She said, “He gave me money for foodstuff after dropping me off in front of a bank where I wanted to do a transaction.
“By 6.00 p.m., we spoke and he asked me to prepare rice for him that night.
“It was this morning (Saturday) that I saw a crowd of people in my house. They said he was a few distance away from home when he was shot dead. I can’t believe this because we have barely spent a year in this community and this has never happened before.”
However, the hoodlums were said to have carted away valuables from the hotel and vandalised all the electronic gadgets.
A soldier, who was not in uniform at the time of the attack, said the vandals attacked him with cutlass and smashed bottles on his head.
He said, “I had entered the beer parlour in the hotel when the militants came in. They cannot be fewer than 200. At first, I thought it was a festival they were having until they ordered all of us to lay flat on the ground.
“They asked for my phone and when I gave them one, they became angry. One of them macheted my head and followed it with a bottle. I was drenched in blood. The militants had sophisticated weapons that I have never seen before.
A Disk Jockey in the hotel said one of the militants wanted to shoot him dead, but one of them warned him against it.
“The were arguing among themselves whether or not to kill me. One said, ‘If you don’t want me to kill him, then let me cut off his leg.’ But his colleague asked him not to. Before I knew it, he had smashed three bottles on my head.
“They went away with my laptop, phones, money and everything I had. They refused to carry away the beers in the hotel. They took the hard alcoholic drinks,” he said.
However, a man, who spoke for the Imushin community, pleaded with the government to intervene before the community is completely deserted.
He said, “These people are militants and even the police cannot withstand their superior fire power. We need help from the government. We will appreciate anything they can do for us.”
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the attack, but said three people were killed.
Source:Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment